Hand-trigger mechanism



Dec. 15, 1925. 1.565.560

W. T. GORTON HAND TRIGGER MEGHANISM Filed July 1l, 1924 yVVELltEl* T- Enrtcm Patented Dec. 15, i925.

WALTER 'I'. GGRTON, 0F THE UNITED STATES ARMY.

HAND-TRIGGER MECHANISM.

Application filed July 11,

(GRANTED UNDER THE ACT 0F To all whom t may] concern.'

Be it known that I, VAL'rr-in T. GoirroN, captain, Ordnance Department, United 'States Army, a citizen of the United States, and stationed at Springfield Armory, county of Hampden, and State of Massachusetts, 'have invented an Improvement in Hand- Trigger Mechanism, of which the following is a specification.

The invention described herein may be used by the Government, or any of its officers or employees in prosecution of work for the Government, or by any other person in the United States, without payment to me of any royalty thereon, in accordance with the act of March 3, 1883.

The subject of this invention is a hand trigger mechanism for machine guns.

In mounting machine guns on aircraft, it is customary to operate the gun by means 4of a trigger motor adapted for synchronized iire and mounted exterior to the gun casing. Since frequent occasions arise when it is `desired to operate the gun by hand instead of trigger motor, it will be obviously ad vantageous to provide a manually operated trigger mechanism which may be readily interchanged with a trigger motor without -altering the standard equipment of the gun or interfering with its operative parts and vwhich utilizes the attaching means of the -trigger motor.

f Aircraft machine guns being mounted for right and left hand operation, it is the ob- -j'ect of this invention to provide a trigger which is symmetrical with respect to the central vertical plane of the gun so that it will function irrespective of the direction of operation for which a particular gun is constructed; to provide a trip element and a trip housing which are so constructed as to provide for assembly on either side of the gun; to construct the engaging portions of the trigger and the trip to facilitate assembly and to insure proper setting regardless of whether the trigger is in its forward or rear position; to return both the trip and the trigger to idle position by means of a single spring; to provide the trip with a lcam surface of a relatively small angle thereby necessitating a considerable movement of the trigger before the withdrawal of the sear will be initiated; and, to form a combination spade grip and back plate 1924. Serial No. 725,438.

MARCH y3, 1883; 22 STAT. 115625.)

which may be readily interchanged with fthe back plate of the gun when adapted for synchronized fire.

To these and other ends, my invention consists in the construction, arrangement, and combination of elements described hereafter and pointed out in the claims forming a part of this specication.

A practical embodiment of my invention is illustrated in the accompanying drawings, in which,

Fig. 1 is a fragmentary top plan view yof a machine gun broken to show the arrangement of the trigger and the trip;

Fig. 2 is av side elevation of the same, partly broken away and sectioned -to show the bolt assembly;

Fig. 3 is a rear elevation of .the Vsame taken on the line 3 3 of Fig. 2, thespade grip cut away;4

Fig. 4 is a section'on the line 4 4 of fFig. 1; and

Fig. 5 is a sectional view of the 4trip housing.

In the accompanying drawings in which like characters of reference designate .like or similar parts,

5 and 6 indicate the side plates of a machine gun having vvertical grooves 7formed on their inner sides, adjacent 'their '.rear ends, which serve to retain the .back plate of .the gun when itis mounted for synchronized fire. The spade grip comprises a back plate 8, including a buffer portion 9 and :tangs 10 extending rearwardly from v,its top and bottom to accommodate a hand grip .1f1, which is formed with tongues 12 for slidable engagement within the grooves r7. 'The lower. forward portion of the spade grip :is provided with a triggerbearing 13, to pivotally carry a trigger 14, whichis forked'at its lower end'to embrace the corresponding part of the spade grip, and is mounted on trigger pins 15. The upper part of "the forked portion of the trigger is formed with similar oppositely extending lugs 16, preferably beveled on their undersides to facilitate assembly, which are designed to cooperate with a trip element, which is'mountable on either side of the gun, as will be hereinafter explained.

The side plates and 6 are ordinarily formed with a pair of apertures '1 7 and 18 to receive the attaching means for a trigger vthe trip element.

motor, the forward aperture being of greater' length to also receive a portion of In interchanging the hand operated trip for the trigger motor, I utilize these apertures to receive pairs of cleats 19 and 20 formed on a trip housing 21, the forward end of which engages the side plate and is adapted to receive a bolt 22 having a beveled head 23 adapted to seat on correspondingly beveled edges of the housing and side plate and secured by a nut 24. The trip housing 21, is channeled to enclose a trip 25 adapted to reciprocate within the housing and adjacent the side plate. The forward portion of the housing 21 is enlarged and oppositely shouldered,

y,the rear shoulder seating a coil spring 26,

which normally forces the trip 25 against the forward shoulder which serves as a stop when the trigger is in idle position.

The trip 25 is elongated, lits rear end formed with a laterally projecting lug 27 having a rounded forward face for engagement with one of the bevel lugs 16 of the trigger, while the forward end is formed into-a T-head, the outer arm 28 seating one end of the coil spring 26 and the inner arm 29, extending through the aperture 18 in the side plate, formed with a bevel face 30 to provide a cam surface. The pitch of the cam 30 is relatively small so that a considerable retraction of the trip 25 will be necessary before the cam will be retracted to operable position.

A bolt 31, mounted for slidable movement with respect to the side plates, is formed with a longitudinal bore in which is reciprocably mounted a hollowed firing pin 32 carrying .a firing pin spring 33, which abuts against a pin y34 rigidly secured to the bolt and riding in an aligned slot -35 formed in the firing pin. rlhe pin 34 also retains a sear spring 36 which engages a sear 37 slidably mounted in the rear ofthe bolt to normally depress the same into a transverse notch formed in the upper face of the ring pin adjacent its rear end to hold the firing pin in cocked position when a cocking lever 38 carried by the bolt retract-s the tiring pin in a well-known manner. The sear 37 is maintained in locking engagement with the firing pin by a slide 39 transversely mounted in the bolt, which rides on an outstanding lug of the sear and which is normally positioned by means of asprmg 40, carried by a pin 41, in lino with the trip arm 29. When the slide is actuated by the trip a groove 42 cut in the bottom of the slide is aligned with the lug o n the sear, whereby to permit the scar to rise when automatically cammed out of engagement with the firing pin which is urged -forwardly to the fired position through the instrumentality of the firing pin spring 33.

The operative engagement of the trip 25,

slide 39 and sear 37 is shown for illustra,-

tion only as the trip may be adapted to perform other functions with respect to the firing mechanism, as for instance, it may actuate a sear or a cocking lever into or out of engagement with the firing pin.

The trigger 14 and trip 25 are normally maintained in idle position by a single spring 26 carried in the trip housing. When the trigger is pressed, the trip 25 is moved rearwardly against the tension of the spring 26 to operatively engage the slide 39 by means of the cam 30. Due to the relatively small angle of the cam 30, a con-v 1. In a gun, the combination with a irinuf` mechanism, of a Y trip v element slidably mounted with respect to the gun and hav-l ing inwardly and outwardly projecting'` arms formed on one end, the inwardly pro-A jecting larm adapted to actuate the firing mechanism, a laterally projecting lug formed on the other end of the trip element, a trigger engaging said lug for retracting the trip element, a housing removably attached exteriorly to the gun and embracing the trip element, said housing formed with an enlarged portion, and a spring carried in the enlarged portion of the housing and engageable with the outwardly projecting arm of the trip element whereby to normally retain the trip element in inoperative position.

2. In a gun, the combination with a firing mechanism, of a trip element slidably mounted with respect to the gun and having inwardly and outwardly projecting arms formed on one end, the inwardly projecting arm adapted to actuate the firing mechanism, a laterally projecting lug formed on the other end of the trip element, means engaging said lug for retracting the trip element, and a housing removably attached cxteriorly to the gun and adapted to embrace lthe trip element.

3. In a gun, the combination with a iiring mechanism, of a trip element slidably mounted with respect to the gun, and havf housing embracing the trip element, and a spring carried by the housing and adapted to engage the outwardly projecting arm of the trip element.

4. In a gun, the combination with a liring mechanism, of a trip element slidably mounted with respect to the gun and adapted to engage the firing mechanism, a trigger element operatively engaging the trip element, a housing removably attached eX- terior to the gun and embracing the trip element, said housing being formed with an enlarged portion, and a spring carried by the enlarged portion and engaging the trip element, whereby to normally maintain the trip element in inoperative position.

5. In a gun, the combination with a tiring mechanism, of a trip element mounted on the gun and slidable longitudinally with respect thereto and adapted to engage the iring mechanism, means for actuating the trip element, and a housing removably attached exteriorly to the gun and adapted to enclose the trip element.

6. In a gun, the combination with a firing mechanism, of a trip slidably mounted with respect to the gun, and adapted to engage the firing mechanism, a trigger clement operatively engaging the trip element, and a spring for returning both the trip and the trigger to idle position.

7. In a gun, the combination with a firing mechanism, of reversible means removably attached exteriorly to the gun for manually actuating the tiring mechanism.

8. A machine gun, embodying a combined back plateand spade grip removably mounted on the gun, a forked trigger pivotally mounted on the back plate, bevel lugs formed on opposite ends of the trigger, a firing mechanism, reversible means connected to the trigger and operable therewith for actuating the i'ring mechanism either right handed or left handed, and a spring for normally retaining the aforesaid means and the trigger in idle position.

9. A machine gun, embodying a combined back plate and spade grip removably mounted on the gun, a forked trigger pivotally mounted on the back plate, beveled lugs formed on opposite sides of the trigger, a firing mechanism, a connection between the firing mechanism and trigger whereby the firing mechanism and trigger are operated in unison, and a spring engaging said connection for normally retaining both the connection and the trigger in idle position.

10. A machine gun, embodying a combined back plate and spade grip removably mounted on the gun, a Jforked trigger pivotally mounted on the back piate, beveled lugs formed on opposite sides of the trigger, a firing mechanism, reversible means connected to the trigger and operable therewith for actuating the tiring mechanism either right handed or left handed, and means for normally maintaining the reversible means and trigger in idle position.

11. A machine gun, embodying a combined back plate and spade grip removably mounted on the gun, a forked trigger pivotally mounted on the back plate, outstanding beveled lugs formed on opposite sides of the trigger, a firing mechanism, and reversible means engageable with either lug of the trigger and operable thereby for actuating the firing mechanism either right handed or left handed.

12. A machine gun, embodying a firing mechanism, reversible means for actuating the tiring mechanism, a forked trigger pivotally mounted on the gun and outstanding beveled lugs formed on opposite sides of the trigger and adapted to engage the aforesaid means whereby to actuate the same from either the right hand or left hand side of the gun.

13. A machine gun, embodying a iiring mechanism, reversible means for actuating the tiring mechanism, and a trigger mounted on the gun and adapted to engage the aforesaid means whereby to actuate the same from either the right hand or left hand side of the gun.

14. A machine gun, embodying a combined back plate and spade grip, means formed thereon for removably mounting the same on a gun, and a trigger pivotally mounted on the plate, said trigger being forked to embrace the plate.

15. A machine gun, embodying a combined back plate and spade grip, a trigger mounted thereon, a tiring mechanism, carried by the gun, and means for actuating the firing mechanism, said means engageable with the trigger and operable from either the right or the left hand side of the trigger.

16. A machine gun, embodying a Iiring mechanism, a reversible trip for actuating the firing mechanism, a reversible trip housing removably attached exterior to the gun,

vand means for operating the trip.

1T. A machine gun, embodying a firing mechanism, reversible means for actuating the firing mechanism removably attached exterior to the gun, and means for operating the aforesaid means either right handed or left handed.

18. A machine gun, embodying a tiring mechanism, reversible means for actuating the firing mechanism, and means for operating the aforesaid means either right handed or left handed.

IVALTER T. GORTON. 

